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The Texas Rangers scored seven runs but the St. Louis Cardinals scored four runs.

Player of the Game: Kyle Higashioka had three hits tonight so kudos to him for bringing some productive to the bottom of the order from the catcher position but it’s Pederson who doubled twice and drove in two runs, including the go-ahead and eventual winning run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth.

The Rangers tacked on two more insurance runs in the inning to pick up the win and thwart a would-be come back attempt from the Cardinals after rallying from a 2-0 deficit themselves early on in this one.

Up Next: The Rangers and Cardinals close out this series with Texas eyeing a second straight sweep. LHP MacKenzie Gore set to make the start for Texas in the finale against RHP Andre Pallante for St. Louis.

The Wednesday evening first pitch from Busch Stadium is set for 6:45 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Dustin May did his part by giving the St. Louis Cardinals a quality start Wednesday night against Skip Schumaker’s Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, Nathan Eovaldi was just a little bit better. In the end, it would be so many missed opportunities that would cost the Cardinals dearly. A terrible relief effort in the top of the 9th wouldn’t help either. More on that later.

The Cardinals bats were actually put to good use Tuesday night (unlike the previous night) as St. Louis was first on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Bryan Torres walked, Masyn Winn singled to center which brought up Jimmy Crooks who dumped a ball into short right field scoring Torres and giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Not getting any additional runs in the 2nd would sadly be a sign of things to come Tuesday night.

The next Cardinals run would come from a player that all of us collectively hope is a sign of good things to come. Nolan Gorman showed his largely unrealized power by going the opposite way on a 93 mph four-seam fastball and elevating it 373 feet into the left field seats giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals 2-run lead would not stick as the Rangers strung together hits in the top of the 5th inning as Evan Carter reached on an infield hit where Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt partially collided. Kyle Higashioka followed that with a single of his own moving Carter to third. Lopez grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Carter cutting the St. Louis lead in half 2-1. Joc Pederson would then rip a double down the right field line which scored Lopez tying the game 2-2.

The Rangers would take the lead in the top of the 6th inning when Jake Burger drew a one-out walk. He then was moved over to second on a groundout from Duran. Alejandro Osuna singled to right which scored Burger making it 3-2 Texas. That would end Dustin May’s night. He gave St. Louis 5 2/3 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs with a stellar 9 strikeouts and just 2 walks. JoJo Romero would come in from the pen and get the last out in the Ranger’s 6th. After the Cardinals failed to take advantage of another Masyn Winn hit in the bottom of the 6th, JoJo would return to the mound to try and keep the Rangers close in the top of the 7th inning. He was only partially successful as the Rangers managed to double their lead on a combination double, successful sacrifice bunt, questionable hit-by-pitch and then sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 Rangers. The hit-by-pitch call of Joc Pederson was challenged by St. Louis, but the review officials in New York didn’t see enough to overturn it and it stood.

The Cardinals were not done, though. JJ Wetherholt, who had 2 hits on the night, led off the bottom of the 7th with an opposite field single past the shortstop. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Iván Herrera was then hit by a pitch which gave St. Louis runners on first and second with none out. Alec Burleson would make the Rangers pay as he smoked a single to left field scoring JJ making it 4-3 Cardinals as Herrera advanced to third on Burleson’s hit. Jordan Walker then did something he hadn’t done all night. He made contact with a 76 mph curve from Eovaldi muscling it out to left field for a single scoring Herrera and tying the game 4-4.

That ended Nathan Eovaldi’s night as Skip Schumaker turned to lefthander Jalen Beeks in relief. Manager Oli Marmol called on Nelson Velázquez to come off the bench and give the Cardinals the lead. He unfortunately struck out as did Masyn Winn who followed. Marmol called on José Fermín to pinch-hit for Nolan Gorman, but he lined out to left field which means the Cardinals had runners on first and third with no one out, but could not bring in any additional runs. Disappointing.

George Soriano was the Cardinals 8th inning answer out of the bullpen. His first pitch resulted in a ground ball deep into the hole at short, but Masyn Winn came up with an absolutely dazzling play throwing out Jake Burger with his rifle arm. That wasn’t his only act of incredible glove work against Burger as he also robbed him with an excellent play in the top of the 4th inning.

Jimmy Crooks had a good night at the plate. His second hit of the night was a double down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the 8th for St. Louis. Thomas Saggese would pinch-run for Crooks as Victor Scott II would unsuccessfully try to bunt him over popping out to third base instead. JJ Wetherholt was also unable to advance Saggese as he popped out to short. The Rangers would bring in Cal Quantrill to face Iván Herrera to try and keep the game tied. One pitch later, Herrera grounded out to short to squander a great chance to take the lead going into the 9th. Disappointing. Again.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to keep the game tied in the 9th, but he would invite trouble by walking the first man he faced which was Evan Carter. He would make matters worse by throwing a wild pitch as Carter advanced to second. Kyle Higashioka singled to right giving Texas runners at first and third with no outs. O’Brien would turn to a disappearing slider to strike out Lopez for the first out, but Joc Pedersen dumped his third hit of the night into left field giving the Rangers a 5-4 lead. That bloop hit would be followed by another one for Jung doubling the Texas lead to 6-4. Nimmo added a sacrifice fly to compound our misery making it 7-4 Rangers.

Andre Pallante will lead the charge Wednesday night as it’s game 3 of the St. Louis Cardinals series versus the Texas Rangers to try and avoid a sweep. MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to make the start for the Rangers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm central time and the game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

The Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees began their three game series in New York. The game looked to be a nail biter with some back and forth between the two squads until Cleveland ultimately took an insurmountable lead.

Joey Cantillo had a short start for Cleveland. Cantillo only pitched 4.0 innings on 91 pitches. He allowed all four of the Yankees runs on six hits and three walks. Cantillo struck out two batters before turning things over to the Guards bullpen. Colin Holderman, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis all threw strong scoreless innings.

The Guardians put the first run of the game on the board in the top of the third inning. Patrick Bailey slapped a triple to center, putting himself into scoring position for Brayan Rocchio to hit a sacrifice fly.

A two run home run brought the Yankees right back and in the lead in the bottom of the third.

In the top of the fourth José Ramírez hit a lead off double to right. Kyle Manzardo hit a fly ball to the short porch to put two on the board and regain the lead for Cleveland.

The Yankees reclaimed a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a one-out single, advancing to second with a José Caballero walk. A flyout and a stolen base put both runners in scoring position, allowing them to score easily on Paul Goldschmidt’s two-RBI single.

In the top of the fifth Steven Kwan hit a lead off single to right field. Patrick Bailey reached on a fielding error by Amed Rosario. Brayan Rocchio, who was looking to bunt but did not offer, was hit by pitch to load the bases. Travis Bazzana hit a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning, tying the game in the process.

José hit a RBI double to score Bailey and force Aaron Boone to turn to the New York bullpen and giving Cleveland the lead again.

This time New York didn’t have an answer as the bullpen locked the Yankees down.

Brayan Rocchio kicked things off in the top of the seventh with a single on a grounder to left field. Rocchio quickly stole second base then caught Amed Rosario sleeping and stole third base too. José Ramírez hit a double to left to score Rocchio and put the Guards up by two runs.

The top of the eighth inning is what ultimately sealed the victory for Cleveland. Angel Martínez hit a single to center and stole second after a successfully challenged out call on the play. Daniel Schneemann and Steven Kwan hit back-to-back singles. Kwan’s bunt ground ball single was expertly placed and his speedy baserunning allowed him to reach, loading the bases. With two-outs, Travis Bazzana came up with a huge swing.

Bazzana’s three-run double put the Guardians up 5 runs and sent the Yankees fans on there way home. The Guardians didn’t put up another run, but Kyle Manzardo worked a very impressive 13 pitch walk in the top of the ninth. Shawn Armstrong and Matt Festa closed out the eighth and ninth innings without allowing a single baserunner. The Guardians finished the game with nine runs, twelve hits, and one error. Every Guardians hitter reached base with Chase DeLauter being the only batter to only record a walk, no hits.

Tomorrow’s game will be a 7:05PM EDT start with Gavin Williams facing off against Garrit Cole.

The past couple of weeks have been a time of great flux for both the Mets’ rotation and the bullpen. David Peterson has slotted back into the rotation only to lose his job again in favor of Sean Manaea, who has been greatly improved of late. Jonah Tong has been called back up to the big leagues and comported himself well. Tobias Myers has struggled with an unclear role and has been sent down to Triple-A to be stretched out. A.J. Minter has returned from the injured list and been a boost to the bullpen, who had been cycling a couple of guys in and out. Christian Scott continues to pitch well, but Nolan McLean has hit a rough patch.

Player	Last week	This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Daniel Duarte, RHP	—
Craig Kimbrel, RHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
A.J. Minter, LHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
Cionel Pérez, LHP	—
David Peterson, RHP
Jonathan Pintaro, RHP	—
Brooks Raley, LHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Zach Thornton, LHP	—
Jonah Tong, RHP	—
Austin Warren, RHP
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP

On May 22, the Mets called up Jonah Tong from Triple-A Syracuse, which ended Craig Kimbrel’s Mets tenure. Kimbrel had two poor outings in Washington prior to the DFA. He was subsequently picked up by the Rays, pitched one scoreless inning for them, and then went on the injured list. Meanwhile, Tong has pitched well enough to stay in the rotation. He has pitched twice behind an opener since being called up and has yet to allow an earned run across 6 2/3 innings of work. He is still issuing too many walks and not striking out enough batters, but he has been effective so far, earning the win in Wednesday’s game.

Tobias Myers appeared in both of the games Tong pitched in and allowed a run in each of those appearances. In Miami, Myers was the opener and allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings of work. Against the Reds, Myers assisted Tong by getting the final out in relief of him in the fifth, but he came back out for the sixth and created a jam that resulted in a run. But the lowest point of his recent struggles came when he blew the lead in the eighth inning of Friday’s game, resulting in an extra inning affair, which the Mets would go on to win in walk-off fashion. But Myers’ challenges are as much the result of an inconsistent role as anything else—one day he is being asked to be the opener, the next outing he is tasked with multiple innings in mop-up duty, and then another day he is relied upon to be a late-inning fireman. The Mets seem to understand that this is not conducive to his success and have sent him down to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter. Cionel Pérez was called up to take Myers’ roster spot and pitched a scoreless sixth inning on Saturday in his Mets debut.

Meanwhile, Sean Manaea appeared in two games during this two-week stretch and pitched well in both of them. He followed Myers and preceded Tong in last Friday’s closely contested loss in Miami and took the tough luck loss in that one for allowing one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. In Tuesday’s loss to the Reds, Manaea did mop-up duty for David Peterson, allowing one run in three innings of work, striking out six batters in the process. Peterson was knocked around for six runs on eleven hits in that game and took the loss. He had pitched much better in his previous start in Washington, where he allowed just one run on four hits over five innings of work, striking out three and walking three. But the outing against the Reds was so poor that he lost his rotation job again (to Manaea this time). He appeared in relief in Sunday’s lopsided victory and earned a save for pitching the final four innings of that game without incident.

That bulk relief appearance came to the benefit of Nolan McLean, who earned the win on Sunday for five innings of one-run ball. It was a big bounce back outing for McLean, but even with the positive result, McLean had to fight for it and it saved him from getting a poop emoji because his two other starts over the past two weeks were awful. In Washington, McLean had the worst outing of his big league career to date, giving up nine runs—only six of them earned—on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. One hoped it was just a blip, but he followed that up with an even worse performance against the Reds, yielding seven runs before being chased from the game after just 3 1/3 innings. Even the best young pitchers struggle sometimes and the Mets hope that McLean can right the ship because they cannot hope to stay afloat otherwise.

Fellow rookie Zach Thornton was called upon to make a spot start in Washington and though he had a better time out there than McLean did, it wasn’t by much. He gave up four runs on four hits, including a home run, in 4 1/3 innings of work, striking out three batters and walking two. But to be fair to Thornton, the Nationals—currently one of the top offenses in baseball—turned out to be a surprisingly tough assignment for the young lefty for his debut.

While we’re discussing the Mets’ young arms, Christian Scott continues to perform consistently well, though he too struggled a bit against the high powered Nationals bats. He gave up three runs on four hits in four innings of work in Washington, but faired much better against the Marlins—once in Miami and once at home. In Miami, he was excellent, twirling 5 2/3 scoreless innings in which he struck out five batters and only allowed four hits. He followed that up with five innings of one-run ball at Citi Field against those same Marlins and this time, the Mets were able to win the game to finally give Scott his first big league win.

Devin Williams was involved in both of those contests to very opposite results. Last Sunday’s game remained a scoreless tie until the bottom of the ninth when Williams was tasked with trying to send the game to extras. But instead he gave up a walk-off grand slam to Heriberto Hernández. All three of Williams’ other outings, including on Saturday in a non-save situation, were effective ones. He capped off Saturday’s win with a scoreless ninth and converted save opportunities in Washington and at home against the Reds.

The Reds series also saw the return of A.J. Minter to the Mets’ bullpen and the veteran lefty picked up right where he left off. Peterson and Manaea combined to pitch the first eight innings of Tuesday’s 7-2 loss, but Minter finished the game with a scoreless ninth in his 2026 debut. On Friday night, Minter recorded the final out of the fifth inning with a strikeout of Jakob Marsee in a tough spot and then went on to record the first two outs of the sixth as well.

That outing came in relief of Freddy Peralta, who continues to be as advertised: a guy who usually won’t go deep into the game, but will keep his team in the game more often than not. On Friday, Peralta couldn’t quite make it through the fifth and needed Minter’s help to navigate out of it. But to be fair to Peralta, only two of the four runs he gave up in the outing were earned and the Mets did go on to win the game. Peralta’s most recent start prior to Friday—also against the Marlins—was the exception to the rule: he was pushed to seven innings, over which he gave up four runs on eight hits, striking out nine and walking two. The Mets unfortunately failed to give Peralta any run support that day and he took the loss for that effort. Jonathan Pintaro pitched the final inning of that game in relief of Peralata and delivered a 1-2-3 inning. Pintaro also pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in last Tuesday’s game before being optioned back down to Triple-A Syracuse.

Similarly, Daniel Duarte’s time with the Mets has come and gone during the two-week period covered by this meter, despite him pitching well in his cup of coffee with the big league squad. Duarte saved the rest of the bullpen with 2 1/3 scoreless innings in Washington in relief of Nolan McLean after his poor outing. Duarte yielded just one hit, struck out a batter, and didn’t issue any walks in the outing. He was then optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.

For the time being, it seems that Austin Warren has pitched well enough to avoid being the guy that gets sent back down just because he has options, as he has survived all the roster shuffling over the past couple of weeks. And he has been used heavily during that time, appearing in five games over this two-week span. In the crazy series opener in DC in which the Mets put up a ten-run twelfth inning, Warren pitched two hitless innings in relief of Christian Scott, striking out a batter and walking a batter. He appeared again in relief of Thornton two days later and that was the only recent outing in which he struggled, giving up two runs on four hits. But every pitcher the Mets sent to the mound struggled in that 8-4 loss. After Nolan McLean imploded against the Reds in the fourth inning last Tuesday, Warren calmed things down with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Warren’s best outing came in Friday’s extra inning game, in which he pitched a scoreless tenth to strand the ghost runner and earn the win when the Mets walked if off in the bottom of the frame. He then capped off his month of May with a scoreless eighth inning in Saturday’s win.

The only guy that has been used just as heavily as Warren is Huascar Brazobán, who continues to excel in every role he has served in this season, including as an opener. Brazobán appeared in both games in this past weekend’s Marlins series that Warren appeared in and earned a hold in both of them, striking out the side in the seventh inning on Saturday. Brazobán’s only outing lasting more than one inning came in the series opener in Washington, in which he earned the win for that group bullpen effort. He earned a hold for a scoreless sixth in the finale of the Nationals series. Brazobán has a fantastic 1.82 ERA on the season. He recorded two outs in last Sunday’s walk-off loss in Miami and then served as the opener ahead of Tong in Wednesday’s win over the Reds.

Luke Weaver also continued his sustained run of brilliance over the past couple of weeks. He has now dipped his season ERA below 3 by not allowing an earned run in the entire month of May. The period encompassed by this meter included 5 1/3 innings across five appearances, over which he allowed just four hits in total, striking out five batters and walking only one. Put simply, Weaver has been the Mets’ most consistent reliever this month and is pretty much automatic right now.

Brooks Raley has been one of the other most consistent performers in the bullpen but he’s scuffled just a little bit of late. In the series opener in Washington, Raley got himself into quite a jam by giving up a double to the lefty James Wood who he was brought in to face and then walking two batters to load the bases with nobody out. A run scored on a sacrifice fly in that inning, but the Mets did maintain the lead. Raley bounced back with a scoreless seventh inning (Weaver followed with a scoreless eighth) in the series finale in DC to protect a one-run lead and earn his eighth hold of the season. In Miami Raley allowed what would have been a go-ahead RBI hit in a scoreless game in the seventh, but A.J. Ewing threw Javier Sanoja out at the plate to help Raley keep the Marlins off the board (until they walked it off in the ninth). Raley contributed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to the victory in the series finale against the Reds on Wednesday and struck out Kyle Stowers in a key spot in Friday’s game.

This was a long, ugly game that kind of confirmed all our priors about the 2026 Yankees. The starting rotation is dynamite but if a guy has an offday, the offense isn’t really deep enough to pick him up, they rely a little too much on one guy. The bullpen shows signs of something special — Camilo Doval throws 103?? — but the sum is less than the whole of the parts. On the whole, the Yankees failed to capture their third straight win, downed by the Guardians 9-4.

Y’know what’s compelling about August 17, 2003?

That was the worst start of Roy Halladay’s season, by Game Score. Three innings, 20 batters faced, 11 of them reached base. Seven men total crossed the plate. He was 26 years old. He would go on to win the American League Cy Young Award that year.

Cam Schlittler is 25 and just had the worst start of his career. I am not saying that he will win the AL Cy Young, more that this kinda stuff happens to everyone. A bad play by Amed Rosario arguably doomed him to that worst start, but there was plenty of mess that he was responsible for as well. He didn’t walk anyone largely because nobody had to hang around at the plate long enough to walk — eight hard-hit balls and a very unfortunate HBP took care of the traffic for him.

His cutter and sinker were pretty in line with seasonal averages, but what is worrying is that four seam was a full mile per hour slower than his baseline. We had a similar story last week in Kansas City, where the breaking fastballs were pretty ok, but the four seam was also down. I don’t know if Cam is fatigued or there’s a sore spot somewhere, but I can’t imagine this is intentional. We’re seeing all over baseball the value of starting pitchers just chucking 4SFBs by guys, Cam wouldn’t be taking velo off at this point in the season.

He was also stung by a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and he has done an exceptional job keeping the ball in the park this year. Sometimes that just happens, sometimes, inexplicably, Patrick Bailey hits a triple off you. It was a mix of bad stuff and “that’s baseball, Suzyn,” so as long as his health is as close to 100 percent as possible, you take the bad outing on the chin and look ahead to the next start.

Offensively, we continue to be thankful for the existence of Paul Goldschmidt:

That Cam has been so dependable, and Will Warren did such a masterful job shutting down the A’s after Sunday’s big inning, definitely made it feel like Goldy’s effort was a little “wasted” early, since Schlittler for once couldn’t maintain a lead.

And that was the Yankee offense. Thank you for paying attention to this update.

I want to take a moment and give a little praise to a player that I don’t give a lot to, and that’s Anthony Volpe. He’s gone cold after a really good start to his season, but he made a hell of a defensive play in the seventh:

As I’ve stated above this was a crummy game to watch so instead enjoy the parallels to perhaps my favorite defensive play of all time, and certainly one of my favorite calls:

Anthony Volpe is not 20-year-old Manny Machado, but a hell of a job done there regardless.

It turns out Camilo Doval does throw 103 (or at least 102.5), and after loading the bases with nobody out flashed that velo in striking out back-to-back batters. Unfortunately, with two strikes on him, Travis Bazzana started his swing super early and landed a double in right field, enough to clear the bases and put Cleveland up by five. Doval has stuff that makes your eyes pop, but man I wish someone on in that bullpen could strike out like, 30 percent of batters faced. There’s no replacement for a whiff, no matter how soft the contact is.

In May it felt like the Yankees alternated good weeks and bad weeks. They just had a very good week with the walkoff over the Rays, a sweep of the Royals and taking two out of three in Sacremento. This was a bad night, but a bad night can turn into a good week if you’re able to get back on the horse the next day. Gerrit Cole has yet to allow an earned run in 2026, and he will be tasked with getting the Yankees right back on that horse tomorrow. Game two of this series comes at 7:05pm Eastern, and it’s the weekly Amazon Prime affair.

Box Score

It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come in and sit with us for a while. We’re always happy to see a friend. There’s no cover charge. The hostess can seat you now. There’s a two-drink minimum, but you need to bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if MLB had a competitive balance problem. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you say that it does and that there should be more done to help small-market clubs. The other 47 percent think things are mostly fine now.

On Tuesday nights I don’t do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz and that time is now.

My tribute to the late, great saxophonist Sonny Rollins (gift article) was delayed by my previously-scheduled look at Miles Davis’ career for the 100th anniversary of his birth. But I think we can move on from Miles after Bitches Brew. He certainly made some great music later on, but I don’t think he revolutionized music again after that seminal jazz/rock fusion album. Only so many times in a career can one artist re-invent jazz.

Sonny Rollins, however, was the last surviving member of the legendary group of musicians who played bebop in the late-40s along with Miles, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and the other titans. Born in Harlem in 1930 to parents who came from the Virgin Islands, Rollins got his first saxophone at age 11 and largely taught himself how to play it. By the time he was 18, he was good enough to be playing with Miles and Powell at the many jazz clubs across New York. As the forties turned to the fifties, Rollins was at the forefront of the “hard bob” movement, which incorporated elements of rhythm and blues and gospel into the bebop format.

But Rollins’ approach could never really be defined by one sub-genre of music. After he took a time-out from music to deal with the medical and legal issues around his heroin addiction, he came back strong in the mid-50s and released his first albums as a band leader. Two of those albums, Tenor Madness and Saxophone Colossus were both released in 1956 and both are considered to be all-time classics. The title track of Tenor Madness contains the only recorded collaboration between Rollins and John Coltrane. Saxophone Colossus would give Rollins the nickname that he would have for the rest of his life. The “colossus” part referred both to his height and his talent.

But the best-known song that Rollins ever released was the first track on Saxophone Colossus, “St. Thomas.” This tune moved Rollins beyond hard bop and incorporated the calypso music of his parents’ native Virgin Islands. In fact, it’s based on a nursery song that his mother used to sing to him. Even if you don’t listen to jazz, this song is so famous that you’ll recognize it immediately.

Here is Rollins playing “St. Thomas” with Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums. The video doesn’t list when or when it was made, but the presence of NHØP likely means that it was at least 1964 and with Drew, likely for Danish television. Since Rollins took a break from performing in 1966, this is probably 1965, give or take a year.

Welcome back to everyone who skips all that jazz.

I’m not going to deny that May was a rough month, with the Cubs going 13-16 with a ten-game losing streak in there. But now that it’s June, they have the chance to put all that behind them.

What helps in June is that the Cubs have what should be a soft schedule. Here are the 27 games that the Cubs have scheduled this month:

June 2,3,4 Athletics

June 5,6,7 Giants

June 9,10,11 @ Rockies

June 12, 13, 14 @ Giants

June 15,16,17 Rockies

June 19,20,21 Blue Jays

June 22, 23, 24, 25 @ Mets

June 26,27,28 @ Brewers

June 29, 30 Padres

So let’s look at that schedule. The A’s are kind of a meh team. They’ve got some good young talent, but they’re under .500 in the lousy AL West. The Giants and Rockies are flat-out terrible. The Blue Jays aren’t nearly as good as they were last year and are below .500 at the moment. The Mets are maybe better than they were the last time the Cubs played them, but they still aren’t good. Only the final five games of the month at Milwaukee and home against San Diego represent a real tough challenge.

I’m not going to ask you to predict the month. But I am going to ask you what you would consider a successful month. That’s 27 games there. I’m going to assume that a losing month would be a failure. In fact, I’m saying if the Cubs only go 14-13 with that schedule, that’s not a success.

But how many games would the Cubs have to win for you to say they had a successful month? It they go 17-10, is that a good month with this schedule? Or 16-11? Or maybe they need to go 20-7?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We always look forward to your visits. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need one. Don’t forget any personal items. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.

The A’s were able to snap their losing ways on Tuesday evening, winning the series opener against the Chicago Cubs behind a strong second start from their prized rookie starting pitcher and winning their 29th game of the season in a 2-1 win. Starting the road trip right!

Taking the hill for the A’s tonight was left-hander Gage Jump, who was making just his second career start. Things didn’t start well for him in this one. Chicago leadoff man Nico Hoerner began with a single then stole second base and advanced to third on another single. With runners at second and third and no outs Jump was able to get a much-needed out but that was enough to give the Cubs the first lead of the game. A caught-stealing at third from Langeliers wiped out the other runner and Jump struck out Seiya Suzuki to end the first. Damage contained.

Meanwhile on the mound for the Cubs it was veteran Jameson Taillon. The A’s went 1-2-3 in the first inning before threatening but coming up short in the second. Then with two outs in the third, Nick Kurtz stepped to the plate and tied this game with a solo blast to the opposite field:

That oppo taco was Kurtz’s 11th of the year and his third in the last four games. Are we finally getting ready to see his power surge?

They A’s would keep up the pressure on Taillon in the fourth. Back-to-back one-out singles put a runner in scoring position, then Zack Gelof came through one batter later with a two-out RBI base knock to give the A’s their first lead of the evening:

Just barely made it over Hoerner’s glove there but that run would end up being huge. The A’s bats were seeing Taillon and making him work for every out tonight but he managed to keep the A’s from adding on from there. He’d end up pitching into the seventh inning tonight before making way to the Chicago bullpen.

Back to Jump. He settled into a rhythm after giving up that first inning run. The lefty bounced around a walk and another hit but kept the Cubs in complete check for the next six innings tonight. He finished his outing retiring the final 14 batters he saw, gaining confidence and looking even more dominant as the game went on.

• Gage Jump: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 85 pitches

An absolutely fantastic performance from the 23-year-old in his second career start. The Cubs offense had no idea what to do against Jump and he kept Chicago from ever getting anything going after that first inning. That’s the type of pitcher the A’s are hoping he can be going forward. He’s lined up to go next against the Houston Astros on Sunday for his third career start.

With Jump out of the game manager Mark Kotsay needed his bullpen to be perfect to hang onto this one-run lead. He first turned to a right-hander in Justin Sterner to start the eighth and switch things up on the Cubs. He did his job with a perfect 1-2-3 inning, setting up Scott Barlow for the save opportunity. He played with fire allowing back-to-back singles top open the bottom of the ninth but managed to get two outs before Hogan Harris came on and secured the final out to secure the win.

The story tonight is all Gage Jump. The lefty was the rock behind the win in this contest, holding down the Cubs’ offense for seven innings. The offense got just enough to get him the win, and the bullpen did its job to secure his first as a big leaguer, even if it got a little hairy at the end. Fun, close, great win all around tonight.

The series continues tomorrow evening, same time same place. It’ll be left-handed Jeffrey Springs on the mound for the Athletics while the Cubs have Colin Rea set to take the ball for them.

Tonight, the Kansas City Royals lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3. The Royals blew a 3-0 lead and were walked off for the sixth time on the season. It is June 2. Kansas City is now on pace for 16 walkoff losses on the season, which is a lot. The last time they even had double-digit walkoffs was 2011.

I think if you were to watch one game that would act as the median game for the 2026 Royals, this would be it. Starting pitcher Noah Cameron was fantastic over seven strong innings, striking out eight against zero walks and one hit. That one hit was a solo home run by Spencer Steer, but let’s be honest: you’ll take that result every time.

But the three Royals relievers—Matt Strahm, Lucas Erceg, and John Schreiber—all gave up a run. Schreiber’s was of the ghost variety in the bottom of the 10th, at least, and he got a strikeout before then. But jeez, Erceg has been so bad recently. It’s his league leading sixth blown save of the year.

Meanwhile, the offense went 2-11 with runners in scoring position and didn’t have a single extra base hit. Michael Massey’s seeing-eye grounder was the only real highlight of the game.

The Royals had one on with one out in the ninth inning after a Bobby Witt Jr. walk, one of eight on the night. But they weren’t able to push across the insurance run. In the 10th inning, the Royals had two on with one out after a Nick Loftin walk. But the combination of Salvador Perez, Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, and Carter Jensen didn’t get a hit in either of those two innings.

I’m trying not to crash out here; this game doesn’t change anything about the 2026 Royals, who are awful. It will likely not change the approach of Matt Quatraro or JJ Picollo, who are committed to whatever this is, and it’s likely not going to change how much losing owner John Sherman can withstand. I was on KCUR’s Up to Date this morning, and I mentioned this when Steve Kraske asked me why the Yankees were so much better than the Royals, but it’s worth rephrasing here: there is a high organizational tolerance for losing here in Kansas City. This is not to say that anybody of the team isn’t bothered by losing, which they are. But the consequences for losing in Kansas City just aren’t there like they are in St. Louis or New York or Boston.

But I am crashing out a bit. This season has been torture. Royals fans deserve better. I don’t think they’ll get it.

Cam Schlittler had his worst start of the season and the bullpen was not much better in the Yankees' 9-4 loss to the Guardians on Tuesday night.

Here are the takeaways...

-WithoutAaron Judge in the lineup due to rib/shoulder soreness, others in the lineup had to step up and Paul Goldschmidt did his part. The former MVP went 3-for-4 as the DH on Tuesday with a double and a two-run shot in the third inning to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. 

In the fourth, with the Yankees down 3-2, Goldschmidt came through again with a two-out, two-run single to put New York ahead again. He accounted for all four Yankees runs.

-The rest of the Yankees lineup was not consistent enough. Aside from Cody Bellinger, who got two hits, and Goldschmidt, the rest of the Yankees lineup had just three hits. They also couldn't come up in the clutch as they went 1-for-8 with RISP and left eight runners on base.

In contrast, the Guardians were 7-for-16 with RISP and left just five runners on base. 

-The Guardians bats were all over Schlittler's pitches in the first inning, as it took two great catches by Trent Grisham to get through the inning 1-2-3. However, the Guardians would scratch out a run in the third and Kyle Manzardo launched a two-run shot in the fourth.

Given the lead again, Schlittler could not hold it. In the fifth, Schlittler allowed a single before Amed Rosario booted a grounder at third. Schlittler hit a batter to load the bases and Travis Bazzana tied the game with a sac fly. Jose Ramirez doubled to push across another run and knock Schlittler out of the game. Brent Headrick picked up the final two outs of the inning to close the book on Schlittler.

Schlittler allowed a career-high five runs (four earned), on five hits while striking out three batters across 4.1 innings (76 pitches/50 strikes). His ERA rose to 1.89 after the loss. 

-The Yankees bullpen could not keep the deficit close. After Headrick, Tim Hill allowed a run on three hits in his inning of play. Hill has now allowed five runs in his last two appearances.

Camilo Doval came in for the eighth and after some tough luck grounders loaded the bases with no outs, the right-hander struck out the next two batters. He was ahead of Bazzana in the count, 1-2, before the rookie dropped a double down the right field line to clear the bases. 

Game MVP: Jose Ramirez

The longstanding Guardian had three doubles and drove in two runs.

Highlights

Paul Goldschmidt 2-run homer for the lead! pic.twitter.com/dMtYsEq1In

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 2, 2026

Goldy drives in two more! pic.twitter.com/jCkXUQBAeH

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 3, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Guardians continue their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Gerrit Cole (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will look to continue this dominance against Gavin Williams (8-3, 3.07 ERA). 

It’s difficult to truly justify a game as a ‘must-win’ just 60 games into a 162 game MLB season, but Tuesday evening in Great American Ball Park began to feel like one shortly after its start.

The Cincinnati Reds, losers of 4 of their last 5 games, were sitting perilously close to being just .500 on the season despite their roaring start in April. They’d lost star Elly De La Cruz to the injured list with a hamstring injury that will sideline him for perhaps a month, and that’s on top of them losing half their rotation options and three of their back-of-the-bullpen stalwarts.

Things, for the Reds, had not been looking up. So when Kansas City Royals starter Noah Cameron began flirting with a perfect game through the first third of the game, the rest of the 2026 season sure felt like a bag of cold mush. Fortunately for the Reds, Spencer Steer swooped in from the rafters and put a hurtin’ on a pair of balls, chased Cameron, and helped pick the Reds up off the mat for at least one night.

Steer homered twice, Will Benson stepped in with the game-tying homer in the Bottom of the 9th, and the Reds managed to make it to extra innings in a 3-3 game despite their only three hits of the game (to that point) having come as solo dingers. And after Brock Burke managed to keep the Royals off the board in the Top of the 10th, it was Blake Dunn’s single into CF who scored – who else? – Steer to give the Reds an emotional 4-3 walk-off victory to level the series.

These Reds are an imperfect team. They were imperfect before the spate of injuries that has forced the re-shape of their entire roster. Still, they are a team with some latent talent, and it’s on Terry Francona to pull the strings at the right times in the right moments to make sure they maximize what it is they do have. On Tuesday night in GABP, that happened – albeit late – and the Reds walked away with a 4-3 win in a game that, for the longest time, they had zero business winning.